I’ve heard more than a few folks say they don’t get Foursquare, the location-based mobile application for keeping track of your friends that launched at the South by Southwest conference in March.

Many of those who seem to be in the dark about Foursquare are marketers, who (rightly or wrongly) try applying what they’ve learned about other social networks (notably Twitter) to this “next hot thing.” Like Twitter (can we just start referring to it as the T word?), Foursquare has a very limited set of features: users can check in (analogous to a single update on Twitter) at bars, restaurants, health clubs, shops or really anywhere they want; they can also see where their friends have checked in recently (like reading the stream of updates on Twitter).

Among Foursquare’s other features is the ability to leave recommendations for people who check in at a location after you have (order the rooster burger with Parmesan fries at the Bulldog; enjoy with a hoppy ale), and (I can’t stress this enough) the ability to see that you’re across the street from a friend — serendipity is big on Foursquare. Foursquare doesn’t offer a way to directly message that friend across the street but instead gives you the options to contact him or her by phone, SMS, e-mail or, wait for it, Twitter.

Twitter gives users a box to enter 140 characters of whatever they want; that simplicity is what has allowed users to define what they want the social network to be. Foursquare on the other hand also aims for simplicity but does so in a much more restricted environment (so forget about trying to link to your blog posts on it).

The problem for a lot of people who can’t wrap their heads around Foursquare is that it doesn’t want to be a “social network”; it wants to be a game. Consider the facts:

  • Foursquare’s URL is playfoursquare.com; that’s right, play, not work.
  • Users earn “points” when they check in.
  • There’s a leaderboard to show who has the most points this week in your city and among your friends.
  • Earn enough point and you are rewarded with little virtual badges — kind of like collecting trinkets from cereal boxes when you were a kid.
  • Visit a place enough times and you can become the “mayor” of that venue, which could get you perks such as free beer.

That last point should get your wheels turning if you are (or work for) a restaurant, hotelier or any place with a retail presence. And there is the rub: while Foursquare is a game, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have marketing possibilities. But as with anything, it’s best to spend some time with Foursquare to realize the potential.

VCs recently took notice of Foursquare, investing $1.35 million in the start-up. But if you still feel like there’s no there there, maybe the video interview below with founder Dennis Crowley will convince you (3 minutes).